Book Beginnings On Friday

I know I've been rubbish this week, and I'm sorry. Does the fact that I have a French oral exam tomorrow count as an excuse? :) No? Oh well, worth a try...

However, I have still found time to fit in a Book Beginnings post. This is part of a weekly meme hosted at A Few More Pages. To participate, share the opening of whatever you're reading, along with your thoughts on just that beginning.

This week has seen me finally get round to starting 'Crazy in Paradise' by Deborah Brown. She sent it to me a few weeks ago, and I'm ashamed that it's taken me so long to get to! This is the author's short description of the book:

Madison Westin, the main character, inherits her aunt’s beachfront motel in the Florida Keys, or so she thinks. Tarpon Cove is not your typical sleepy beach town: Seduction, drunks, ex-cons and fugitives are not the usual fare for someone looking to start a new chapter in their life. Wrestling control of the property from both the lawyer and the conniving motel manager will be no easy feat. But Madison likes living on the edge so she feels right at home. Bullets fly, a dead body turns up, a kidnapping and blackmail. Madison really has to learn not to leave home without her Glock or it could get her killed.

I've been quite looking forward to reading it, as it sounds both fun and exciting. Anyway, here's the opening:

"There should be a law a person can't die in South Florida during the summer. The death of a loved one was hard enough without the added humiliation of sweat."

I like the wit in this! I imagine that if I lost one of my nearest and dearest, being a bit hot and sweaty would be the least of my concerns! If I were to look at just the first sentence, I would suggest it seems intriguing and a bit mysterious, with the hot, sticky summer weather making a great setting for a book of this type. However, when you include the second sentence as well, it really lightens the tone and - as inappropriate as it may sound - makes the event more fun. So far the rest of the book continues in this sort of style, and I'm really enjoying reading it!



In other news...

As I say, I know I've been slack this week, and next week will probably be the same, but hopefully I'll have this week's 30 Week Challenge post up this afternoon. As for reviews, I have a few piling up, so with a bit of luck I'll find the time to put the next one up this weekend. If I don't quite manage it, please bear with me!